Why PLAY is essential for toddlers

Play is an integral part of a child’s development. It is vital for the holistic development of your baby.Both indoor and outdoor games enhance your child’s creativity and imagination. Moreover, playing increases your baby’s physical movement and improves their cognitive abilities. They learn to adapt to the changing conditions of the game. While they are in a team, it develops sportsmanship and team spirit. . . Physical Development Early play develops a wide array of gross-motor, fine-motor and sensory-motor-integration skills such as laterality (coordinating left-side and right-side movement), balance, ballistics (extreme exertions), use of pens and scissors and other hand tools, hand-eye coordination and many, many others. Indeed, actual physical development such as the arch of the palm depends on it, and limiting play and exploration can be quite detrimental to a child. . . Social Development It's hard to beat the confidence conferred by early athletic prowess. Even harder to beat is the cohesiveness of a group of children learning together. And even better than that is free play, children playing on their own or lightly supervised. Some aspects of a well-integrated personality--autonomy, volition, circumspection, empathy, agency--cannot easily be taught; they arise spontaneously from vivid group interaction. . Mental Development Naturally mind and character are much developed by all the foregoing. Beyond that, if you want a gifted reader, sing with your child. If you want a gifted writer, compose and sing your own goofy songs.